The BIFF Square pancake of Busan: a yeasted dough round fried in oil, split open and stuffed with molten brown sugar and a full scoop of toasted seeds.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Hotteok came to Korea with Chinese traders, but Busan gave it the split-and-stuff treatment. On BIFF Square in Nampo-dong, stallholders began slicing the fried pancake open and packing it with sunflower, pumpkin and peanut seeds over the brown-sugar core, and the ssiat, or seed, hotteok became the street snack every festival-goer carries. The stalls still work in pairs, one frying, one stuffing, all winter long.
Common allergens: Wheat (gluten), Nuts and seeds
Tip from the editors. Stuff the seeds after frying, not before; cooked inside, they steam soft and lose the toasty crunch that defines the Busan version.
The ssiat hotteok stalls on BIFF Square fry Busan's signature seed-stuffed pancake, split and loaded with sunflower and pumpkin seeds to order.
Try: Ssiat hotteok
Tip: Queues move fast; hold the paper cup upright because the brown-sugar syrup runs hot.
More cities are in research. Want ssiat hotteok covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.